A Ghost Among Men
by batfan94
Summary: A sequel to Shards of Obsidian. As the city of New York rebuilds after the events of Ruin, the Maggia are desperate to get rid of Obsidian, and turn to Ghost. What follows is a battle that will push Obsidian to his limits. OC x Whitney
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys this is the sequel to Shards of Obsidian and I hope you enjoy! I don't own Iron Man, only Obsidian. (btw to see Obsidians new costume, check out the picture on my profile!)**

"It's been one year since the criminals of the world united and subsequently took control of our nation. But thanks to the efforts of our heroes, such as Iron Man, Rescue, War Machine, and Obsidian, the corrupt regime was overthrown, and the slow process of rebuilding New York began. In addition to the massive damage to structures, many criminals are still on the loose, released from prison to work as their army. We urge all citizens to be aware of any suspicious activity and report it to the authorities."

David rolled his eyes, before tuning the radio to a different station. One year. He can't even believe it's been that long. Everything just passed by like it was only a day. His arrival in New York as Obsidian, meeting Whitney, being on the run for months, fighting in the battle for New York, and taking down Magneto with his friend Hailey.

He even changed his uniform as well. He still kept the gauntlets from his armor, but everything else was different. It was a variation of a S.H.E.I.L.D. tactical uniform, colored pitch black and grey, with a hood and eye mask, and adorned with a large black O.

His thoughts were interrupted when a slender pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, and Whitney sighed, kissing his cheek gently.

"Hey" she said softly, "What's wrong?"

David sighed and looked at her, and that's when she noticed the clippings of The Ghost being sighted in New York.

"Him again?" she asked and her boyfriend nodded.

"Seems he's been taking on a few small jobs over the past year, but about a month ago, he just…vanished. No news, no hero killings, nothing." David said in exasperation, "Plus I'm also trying to keep pressure on the Maggia, just to let Count Nefaria know we are watching."

"Any luck on that?" Whitney asked, sitting next to him while looking over the files S.H.E.I.L.D. gave them on the Maggia.

"So far they've been trying to smuggle in energy weapons from Latveria, but I took care of that a month ago."

Whitney looked at him sadly and sighed, putting her hand on his, "That's not the only reason you're watching them is it? You want information about Ghost, and Nefaria is the most likely person to have it."

He nodded slowly, "He almost killed you, that night when we learned our identities? He knows who we are, but why hasn't he talked yet?"

"He's a mercenary, he only talks for the right price." She chimed in. David rubbed his eyes, leaning back in his chair with a small yawn.

An alert flashed on the computer, causing David's eyes to snap open.

"The Maggia are making their move at the shipping docks." He said, grabbing his costume. He looked up and saw Whitney sauntered to him, dressed in her Madame Masque outfit.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, causing her to smile.

"I've been waiting for us to do something fun together. Don't bother talking me out of it, you know how stubborn I am."

David rolled his eyes, pulling up his hood, "A trait we both share unfortunately."

She laughed, following him to his motorcycle and sitting behind him, holding on by his waist as they sped off.

Count Nefaria, leader of the Maggia gang, watched with an impatient glare while his men were unloading the shipment of drugs and weapons. They were burning precious time, taking on a job this big. The heroes were really impacting the Maggia's hold over their territory. They couldn't afford another setback. He turned to his second in command and snapped, "Make this fast, or else it will be your head!"

He nodded as Nefaria, entered his car and sped off from the docks. He turned to the others and said, "Well you heard him! Get moving!"

One of the men carried his crate to the respective truck, when a pair of hands grabbed him roughly and, with a yelp of surprise, he was pulled into the darkness.

The group turned sharply, looking for their now absent comrade. A few flexed their hands on the handles of their weapons, looking this way and that. One man lost it completely and tried to make a break for it, before he even made it a few yards away, a dark shape snatched him up, carrying him screaming into the night. The group leveled their weapons at the alleyway where he was captured, when a sleek figure landed among them. Before they could react, Madame Masque pulled out a pair of Taser guns, firing at the two Maggia thugs next to her. The men collapsed as currents of electricity caused their bodies to convulse on the ground. One man threw a punch at her, which she sidestepped and took him down with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head. The melee drew the attention of the other Maggia, who raced toward the brawl.

One aimed his rifle at the girl when a hand grabbed the barrel of his gun and, in an impressive feat of strength, bent the barrel downward. The thug looked up in surprise to see Obsidian, who smirked before pulling the gun from his grip, and ramming the man's head into a metal shipping container. With ease he front flipped into the group of thugs, who barely had time to register his presence before he started his attack. One pulled out a shotgun, aiming it at Obsidian who was batting aside the gang members easily. Not missing a beat, he tossed a small device, which exploded in a bright flash of light, blinding the man. He fired a stray shot, which went wide, when Obsidian grabbed the weapon and slammed it into the man's face, dazing him before receiving an armored fist to the jaw, knocking him out cold. The duo worked in perfect unison, taking out the Maggia goons in less than a minute.

Madame Masque looked at Obsidian and gave a small smile, "You missed a spot."

Obsidian rolled his eyes, kicking another Maggia in the head, knocking him out. "Nefaria made a run for it before we cleaned up here. At least it wasn't a total waste. From the looks of it, stopping this pickup will set back the Maggia for another month at least."

Madame Masque looked over the heap of unconscious men. "Police are on their way, let's head back. They don't need our help with these." She huffed, kicking another moaning Maggia.

"Another delivery, totally ruined by Obsidian!" Count Nefaria yelled, looking at the head of the Serpent, a group of tong gang members who seceded from the Mandarin, and a group of escaped prisoners from the prison.

"He has kept all of us from gaining any momentum since the fall of the old regime." Said the Tong, "Otherwise we would not have agreed to this meeting Nefaria."

The Count looked at the Tong confused, "I did not call this meeting. I assumed you did."

"You're both wrong." called a voice. All heads turned to see the Ghost leaning over a balcony above them.

"I called this meeting." He said matter-of-factly, walking down the steps.

"What do you want Ghost?" asked the Tong.

"Simple. You need Obsidian out of the way permanently. I can arrange that." He said looking at the assembled gangs.

"And in return…?" Count Nefaria asked with a little hesitation. Ghost scratched his masked chin in thought.

"Oh nothing much, just the service of your men, some weapons, and twenty million dollars." He said with a slow nod of his head.

The assembled gang looked at him in shock and outrage but ghost interrupted them, "If you don't like my offer you can ask someone else to do it, assuming Iron Man or his friends left anyone competent enough that could do it."

The men fell silent while the cold truth sunk in. With a sigh Nefaria and the others agreed to his terms.

Ghost looked out at the skyline of New York, "Enjoy tonight Obsidian. You survived me once, but not this time. By sunrise tomorrow, Hell awaits you."


	2. The Invisible Knife

David gave a tired yawn, packing up his bag as the bell rang to signal the end of school. He felt someone elbow him in the arm, and he turned to see Tony Stark. Ever since New York, they developed a mutual respect for one another, even if they don't always agree with each other's methods.

"Long night?" he asked, "I heard about your party crashing at the docks. Seems like you prefer the stealthy approach. By the way, Pepper likes the costume change."

David gave a smirk, "Getting a little jealous are we Tony? What can I say, the chicks dig me. It's the giant hood."

Tony laughed as they exited the school, walking along the sidewalk. He looked around at the construction workers slowly rebuilding the damage from the Battle of New York.

"How is she doing?" David asked quietly, "Pepper I mean. How's she holding up?"

A shadow fell over Tony's face, "She's getting better but….the things she had do…..you don't get over it that easily."

David nodded sadly. The feeling was entirely mutual. More than once, he found himself waking up in the dead of night, covered in a cold sweat, the horrors of that event resurfacing but only ten times worse.

Their conversation was cut short as a colossal explosion, shaking the ground beneath them. David looked at Tony and the young genius nodded in agreement.

"Get to the armory; I'll see what I can do to buy some time until you arrive." David said. Tony nodded and took off at a run. David ran in the direction of the explosion, heading down a back alley, changing into his costume.

IMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIM AAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAA

Civilians were screaming, running away in a frenzied panic. Blasts of ice energy lanced out, catching various people in mid-dash, freezing them solid, with looks of horror permanently etched on their face. Blizzard let out a maniacal laugh, firing more blasts of cold energy into the crowd.

"Run! Run like the pathetic weaklings you are!" he yelled in glee. He stopped when he heard the faint sound of a motorcycle's engine roaring closer. Turning, he saw Obsidian racing towards him, a look of grim determination visible beneath his hood.

"Ah. Right on cue," Blizzard sighed, firing his cannon. Obsidian gasped and swerved to avoid the oncoming blast, but despite his evasive maneuvers, a small portion of the beam clipped the wheel of his bike, and the cold energy began to spread across the vehicle. Obsidian leaped from his bike, tossing a few throwing stars he borrowed from Whitney's stock of weapons. One of the perks for dating a girl who is a master of martial arts, is you get to share all the cool toys.

Blizzard ducked to avoid the weapons, distracting him enough to allow Obsidian to take cover behind a car.

"So Donny, how much did the Maggia offer you to become their new lap dog?" Obsidian called out from behind his cover. Blizzard laughed locking on to various heat signatures in order to pinpoint his location.

"Simple. A chance to take you out of existence. Soon, you frozen corpse will be an amazing decoration in my home."

Obsidian rolled his eyes, "Thanks for the mental image. That is totally not disturbing in the least."

He rolled to the side, activating his optical camo, turning him into a shimmering distortion, rendering him nearly invisible. Blizzard, however, wasn't impressed. He was able to spot the hero's heat signature easily, and fired at Obsidian.

"Oh boy!" David gasped, ducking under the beam, while tossing a handheld flare cluster at the criminal. The explosive blinded Blizzard, rendering his thermal imaging useless. He snarled in frustration, swinging his arms wildly as he vainly tried to clear the flashing lights from his eyes. Obsidian seized his chance, his metal gloves balling into fists as he raced toward him.

Blizzard swung his weapon blindly, hoping he could catch his opponent with a lucky melee strike. David ducked under his swing and landed a vicious uppercut, slamming his fist into Blizzard's helmet with a resounding clang of metal on metal. David continued to wail on his foe, ducking under Blizzard's blind strikes while slipping in a few lucky blows of his own.

"You're getting sloppy Donny." Obsidian quipped, knocking Blizzard's feet out from under him. The metal man fell to the ground with a resounding crash. Raising his fist, David smashed it into Blizzard's helmet, knocking off the face plate, exposing Donny Gill's scarred face.

"Now Donny, let's have a little chat," Obsidian whispered in a threatening tone, "What were you looking for? No offense, but this little rampage seems too demeaning for someone of your self-proclaimed "Genius". What's the Maggia got planned this time?"

Donny laughed, "Oh Obsidian. For someone so smart, you are stupidly oblivious to the truth."

"Which is….?" David growled, holding a fist up. Donny looked unabashed and smirked.

"In the end, I don't have to tell you anything. Despite all of your bold talk and your threats, you won't kill me. Sure, you might put me in a body cast for a couple of months, but that won't make me talk. You hero types are all the same. In the end, you don't have the guts to do what needs to be done."

David couldn't find the words to reply, because deep down, everything Blizzard was saying was true and he knew it. Donny smile widened as the shadow of doubt flickered across the hero's face.

"Struck a chord didn't I? Truth hurts doesn't it…_hero_." He hissed.

Anger flashed in Obsidian's eyes, as he slammed Blizzard into a wall with enough force to make a small crater in the brick.

"Who are you working for?!" he growled shaking him roughly.

"You're the hero," Donny said simply, "figure it out yourself."

David raised his metal fist when someone grabbed his wrist. Whirling around in anger, he turned to see Iron Man holding him back.

"Obsidian, that's enough. He's not worth it." Tony said calmly, keeping a firm grip on his wrist.

David wrenched his arm from Tony's grip, dropping Blizzard at his feet and leaving without a word. Tony watched his friend leave with a worried expression under his helmet, while police arrived, taking Blizzard into custody.

IMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIM AAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAA

David slammed his fists into his training dummy with ferocity he's never known before. It seemed like every blow was trying to fend off the awful truth of Blizzard's words, which still rang fresh in his mind.

"David?" Whitney asked, "Tony told me what happened with Blizzard today. You shouldn't let it bother you-"

"But he's right!" David snapped, "No matter what any of these monsters do, in the end, it's our morality that keeps us from ending their lives."

"Valuing human life is NOT a weakness. Unless you forgot, I used to be one of those so called "monsters". If anything, the fact the you won't kill them proves that you are stronger than any of them could ever hope to be."

David, overcome with exhaustion, collapsed and began to shake as tears fell, "You don't understand Whit…I-I _wanted _to kill him. I wanted to wrap my hand around his throat and squeeze hard. It was so tempting, that I actually thought I would kill him."

Whitney sat next to him and held his head close to her chest, as his body was wracked with despair.

"Shhhhh, it's going to be okay," she soothed, stroking his brown hair slowly, fighting her own tears. It broke her heart to see him like this. He was usually a happy guy, confident, and though he may not look strong physically, his spirit and convictions proved his true power.

The continued to sit there for the next few hours, with Whitney whispering soothing words of comfort, as much to herself as to him.

IMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIM AAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAA

Count Nefaria looked nervously at Ghost, while one of his Maggia lackeys broke the news to them.

"My apology for the interruption, but Blizzard has failed to kill Obsidian and has been arrested." The man said, he voice shaking with a twinge of fear.

Ghost, surprisingly seemed pleased at this development, and nodded his head.

"Good, leave us." He said dismissing the Maggia thug. Nefaria looked at Ghost in bewilderment, disbelieving of his reaction.

"You….expected Blizzard would fail?" he asked in astonishment.

"He didn't fail, well not entirely. The sole purpose for this was to plant the tiny seeds of doubt into Obsidian's mind. He will question his actions, hesitate, and make him prone to more mistakes. Mistakes that will cost him very dearly.

Ghost smiled under his mask, "You see Nefaria? The greatest weapons against these "heroes" is a mix of the truth and their own misplaced sense of self-righteousness. So in all actuality, we drew first blood in this little duel. A wound that will continue to bleed with every passing second, and when he's too weak and defeated to resist any longer…we finish him."

**A/N: Please review! The reviews help keep my mind rolling! Plus any new ideas are greatly accepted! Feel free to give your input and I hope you enjoy the story.**


	3. The Orphanage

"Oh come on Tony! For once stop looking at the scientific accuracies or lack thereof and appreciate the message the film was trying to get across!" David groaned, flailing his arms as if he was a bird flapping its wings.

Whitney looked over at her boyfriend who was in a heated debate with Stark. Making her way over to Rhodey and Pepper, she rolled her eyes and asked, "Okay I'll bite, what are they arguing about now?"

"SHHHHHH!" Pepper hushed, staring intently at the back and forth banter between to two young men. Rhodey looked over at Whitney and filled her in.

"They had to watch the movie Frankenstein and give their thoughts. Tony is more inclined to point out the scientific mess-ups, while David is trying to explain that the exact science wasn't the point of the film at all."

Pepper shushed him urgently and Rhodey rolled his eyes, "Pepper and I are betting on who will win."

Whitney raised an eyebrow, "Who are you rooting for?"

Rhodey however paid no mind to her question and turned his attention back to the two boys. Whitney suppressed a small giggle, moving to sit by her boyfriend.

"Still you would think that putting an abnormal brain into the monster would lead to disaster." Tony smirked, watching David's eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"One: He is not a monster, just a misunderstood human being. Two: The first time he killed was because Fritz was whipping him and hurling insults and abuse at him. The purpose was not to judge an individual based on appearances alone. You of all people should know that Tony."

Tony opened his mouth to retort but could not come up with a counter argument. Sighing in defeat, he grumbled and crossed his arms, looking away. Out of the corner of her eye, Whitney saw Rhodey smirk in triumph as Pepper handed over a twenty dollar bill.

"Yeah yeah, just wait till they have to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey." Pepper mumbled, "Tony's gonna spin circles around him."

David laughed and slapped Tony on the shoulder, "C'mon Stark, don't be so glum. Look on the bright side, at least now you will have a new appreciation for the classics."

Tony glared in annoyance, but gave a small chuckle, "Well what do you know, turns out there's someone who actually is smarter than me at something after all."

The group laughed together, when Whitney noticed something that wiped the smile off her face in an instant. Reaching out, she grabbed her boyfriend's arm. David looked at her in concern, following her gaze to the television.

"Authorities have confirmed that there has been an attack at the nearby orphanage in lower Manhattan. At this time we have just received word that members of the Maggia gang have been confirmed as the culprits of this attack, and have hostages inside the building."

Whitney tore her eyes off of the screen to find an empty seat, that David had occupied mere seconds ago.

IMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIM AAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAA

Police cruisers surrounded the orphanage, sirens wailing amidst the barking of dogs, the marching of SWAT teams, and the orders being flung around from various Officers.

The Police Chief looked to see Obsidian land on a nearby rooftop. After a second, his voice came through the walkie-talkie the Chief carried with him.

"I'll handle this one sir. Keep a perimeter and I'll let you know when it's all taken care of." Obsidian said, firing a grapnel hook from his gauntlet. The claw-like device soared up before embedding itself in the stone of a nearby balcony, giving him the element of surprise.

"All right, let's get this over with." Obsidian whispered, narrowing his eyes. _What are you up to Nefaria?_

IMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIM AAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAA

"Man I don't like this." A Maggia thug said restlessly, flexing his hand on his gun, "All those cops out there…."

"Relax man, they aren't gonna try anything when we've got these poor innocent orphans here at gunpoint." One chuckled, waving his gun threateningly in front of a group of crying children.

The other was not convinced, "But what if HE shows up? This is his neighborhood ya know."

"Just keep your trap shut and stick to the plan. The boss hasn't led us wrong before." The other snapped irritably, rolling his eyes behind his mask.

"Man why am I always paired up with the numbskulls in this-" he started when a dark silhouette rapidly descending toward him smashed through the window. The shattered glass cascaded all around the thugs, but they all saw the look of rage on the hero's face.

Obsidian landed amidst the glass fragment, his feet crushing the fragile pieces underfoot. The young hero's gaze swept over the room, seeing the bruises on the orphans, no doubt received from the monstrous low life criminals before him. He narrowed his eyes at the group of Maggia and cracked his knuckles.

"Okay," he growled, "Who's first?"

The group seemed to have a few scraps of courage left in them after all, as they charged forward with various weapons. One swung wildly with an aluminum bat, hoping for a lucky hit. But David simply ducked under the weapon before landing an uppercut to the man, sending him reeling backwards into his comrades. David leaped into the fray, ducking and weaving seamlessly around the thugs. Another swung a low, heavy fist at Obsidian, who flipped easily over him, using his momentum to launch a diving kick at another. The blow caught the thug in the chest, knocking him over a railing onto the flight of stairs below. Reaching out with both armored hands, David grabbed two more goons by the front of their suits, slamming their heads together with a crack.

He whirled around, smashing his fist into the side of a Maggia, cracking a few ribs in the process. The man doubled over in pain before catching a swift kick to the chin, knocking him out. The orphans looked at their rescuer in awe as he systematically took out the Maggia one by one.

Obsidian lifted the last conscious thug before throwing him into the wall. He turned back to the children and grinned.

"You kids ok?" he asked when one of the children blurted out, "LOOK OUT!"

Before he could react, he was knocked forward into the wall, slamming painfully into the woodwork. A hand grabbed a fistful of David's hood, yanking him around only to meet an oncoming fist embedded in his gut. The hero's eyes widened as he doubled over in pain. He gestured to the stunned children, "GO! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" he yelled.

The frightened kids nodded, scrambling past the fight. Obsidian looked up at his opponent: A member of the Serpent, an elite group who seceded from the Tong after the Mandarin's failed conquest of New York.

"So," growled David, "The Serpent are so bored that they stoop down to working for Nefaria?"

"Not Nefaria, hero." The ninja answered kicking Obsidian in the chest, "Someone much, much worse."

Obsidian narrowed his eyes as he saw the oncoming fist, swiftly moving aside while using the Serpent's momentum to hurl him towards the wall. The man didn't miss a beat, scaling up the wall in a perfect backflip, landing behind the stunned hero. There was a flash of pain as the ninja twisted his arm behind his back.

"You call yourself a hero?" laughed the Serpent, "You are naïve to judge what is good or evil. Which is why I'm going to kill you now."

David smirked, "Ok then, but before you do, I got a question. How is that broken nose doing?" he asked, looking over his shoulder, smiling through the pain.

The ninja blinked in confusion, "What are you-"

Suddenly, Obsidian whipped his head back, smashing it into the Serpent's face, forcing him to release the hero. Taking full advantage of the moment, he drove his fist into the man's gut, before slamming his head against a railing, knocking him out. David leaned against a wall, grimacing as the various cuts and bruises sent new spikes of pain through him. He raised a hand to his communicator and spoke.

"All clear Chief, I got a couple of new guys looking for a nice comfy cell."

IMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIM AAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAAIMAA

"GHOST!" Nefaria shouted, storming up to the mercenary, "This has gone far enough! It has been over two months and you haven't made any progress with killing Obsidian! You just waste our resources and manpower of foolish gestures and attacks that gain us absolutely NOTHING!"

Ghost looked unconcerned at the raging man standing before him, "What a coincidence, because you are a central part of the next phase of our plan. You have the biggest job of us all Nefaria when we frame him."

"Frame him?" Frame him for what?" Nefaria asked when Ghost threw a handful of Obsidian's throwing stars.

There was a thud as the Count's body hit the floor, his face fixed with an expression of dawning horror.

"Your murder." Ghost finished, before walking off, leaving the body in a growing pool of blood.

**OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH SNAP! Didn't see that coming did ya? Well the next chapter is gonna be action packed! Now that my writers block has been destroyed! See you guys soon!**


End file.
